1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-fray treated fabric for use in fabricating expandable and retractable window coverings, partitions and the like, particularly honeycomb panels. The invention further relates to a method of making such an anti-fray treated fabric, to non-fraying expandable and retractable window coverings, partitions and the like made from this anti-fray treated fabric, and to methods of making non-fraying expandable and retractable window coverings, partitions and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,027 to Colson describes a method and apparatus for fabricating expandable and retractable honeycomb panels by folding a continuous length of material into an open-faced tubular construction, applying longitudinal lines of adhesive to the tubular construction and then stacking successive lengths of the tubular formed material one on top of another such that adjacent lengths of the tubular material are secured to one another by the lines of adhesive. One of the materials which can be used in the Colson process is a non-woven polyester material. Numerous modifications to the basic Colson process have been proposed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,603,072, 4,631,108, 4,631,217, and 4,676,855. In addition, multiple cell row expandable and retractable honeycomb panels made by a process of folding a continuous length of material, applying a number of longitudinal lines of adhesive to the folded material, and then stacking successive lengths of the folded continuous length of material on top of one another to secure the lengths of folded material together is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/720,163, filed Jun. 27, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,750. Another type of window covering in which longitudinal lines of adhesive are applied to a continuous length of material is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/701,165, filed on May 17, 1991. In this window covering, which is not a honeycomb panel, relatively narrow strips of material extend between two sheets of material and are secured to each sheet of material by a respective longitudinal line of adhesive applied adjacent each longitudinal edge of the strip material.
For aesthetic purposes, efforts have been made to use woven, knit or other textile materials to fabricate expandable and retractable honeycomb panels by the Colson process and modifications thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,276, for example, describes a specially formed knit fabric sheet having areas of different fabric density. In the fabric of U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,276, areas of high fabric density are provided in an attempt to prevent adhesive seepage through the knit fabric when it is fabricated into a honeycomb panel using the Colson process. The use of the specially formed knit fabric of U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,276 to form honeycomb panels by the Colson process suffers from a number of disadvantages. One such disadvantage is the fact that the fabric must be specially knitted in order to provide the areas of different fabric density.
If a woven textile fabric were to be fabricated into a honeycomb panel, the yarn at the edge of each cell would fray, giving the honeycomb product a poor appearance. After the honeycomb product has been handled several times, the fraying will increase with the unsightly result that several yarns will be left hanging off the honeycomb product's edge. Since these honeycomb products are primarily used as window coverings, room partitions, and the like, their aesthetic qualities are very important and the fraying characteristic of woven textile materials has generally prohibited the use of woven textile materials in honeycomb panels.